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Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel |  | Author: David Guterson
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
New (144) Used (2485) Collectible (40) from $0.01
Rating:  707 reviews
Sales Rank: 16947
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st Vintage contemporaries ed
Pages: 460
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 067976402X
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780679764021
ASIN: 067976402X
Publication Date: September 26, 1995
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Amazon.com Review
This is the kind of book where you can smell and hear and see the fictional world the writer has created, so palpably does the atmosphere come through. Set on an island in the straits north of Puget Sound, in Washington, where everyone is either a fisherman or a berry farmer, the story is nominally about a murder trial. But since it's set in the 1950s, lingering memories of World War II, internment camps and racism helps fuel suspicion of a Japanese-American fisherman, a lifelong resident of the islands. It's a great story, but the primary pleasure of the book is Guterson's renderings of the people and the place.
Product Description
A phenomenal West Coast bestseller, winner of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award, and an Abby Award nominee, this enthralling novel is at once a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, the story of a doomed love affair, and a stirring meditation on place, prejudice, and justice. "Finely wrought, flawlessly written."--The New York Times Book Review.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 707
 A Lot to Like October 14, 2009
David Zimmerman (Baton Rouge, LA USA)
This is a wonderful novel about a murder trial on an island off Washington state in the 1950s. All at once a murder mystery (complete with forensics), a period novel, a culture/history novel (Japanese-Americans and their WWII internment are key figures/events in the story), a geographical novel (weather/land/water play a big part) and a star-crossed love story, Guterson manages to blend it all together with an easy grace. But mainly the theme is human nature under crisis, about which Guterson provides a lot of insight. My only quibble is with an opening chapter that spends a little too much time setting the physical scene (the "snow falling on cedars"). I found this part to be slow going, and it might discourage some readers from continuing.
I highly recommended "Snow Falling on Cedars" to readers of all ages. Teenagers may especially appreciate the book as the protagonist/narrator is a journalist looking back on his life as a youth and teen.
One of the best reads in a while October 5, 2009
T. Dallman (Boise Idaho)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is so well written and so intriguing. I could not put it down. It was a true page turner.
 Not for the action-seeking escape reader August 10, 2009
Nico1908 (Florida)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
In this meandering courtroom drama, a murder case serves as the background for the interwoven fates of the inhabitants of a small island off the Northwestern shore of the U.S. The book is really a collection of stories about the relationships between Americans of European descent (for lack of a better term) and 1st and 2nd generation Japanese immigrants.
If you are looking for a fast-paced thriller or an action-packed murder mystery, this is not the book for you. The author places his words slowly but deliberately, gently and indefatigably, like, well, snow falling on cedars.
I give this book three instead of four stars because I was disappointed by the ending, which came about a little too easy, and because of the unnecessarily explicit sex scenes.
Fantastic July 25, 2009
Elizabeth (Pennsylvania)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book was so well written...just when you thought you were going to have to endure a back and forth between attorneys in a trial, the author takes you to the actual scene of what happened.
It was outstanding in terms of historical representation and the detail about the town, the characters, their feelings, and the description of what was happening made you feel as though you were right there and feeling what the character felt as well as visualizing the scene.
Read it for a book club choice...I highly recommend it.
Into every life rain must fall May 12, 2009
Davis Aujourd'hui (Upstate NY, United States)
Into every life some rain must fall. Yet the beauty of winter is that it is transformed into delicate, crystalline snowflakes. That is why the title for this book is a good metaphor for the nuances and mysteries in life that happen to us as humans. It certainly does that for the characters within this book.
The author is a skilled storyteller. He has created touching characters that are easy to relate to. His writing style is lyrical and beautiful. It reads like a gently warming fire that blazes into an intensity that will move you and transform you.
From that standpoint, the book has a deeply spiritual dimension. I especially appreciated that since I am the author of a spiritually-themed book entitled "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude."
This book is a love affair between two beautiful souls. It also is filled with drama that leads to tragedy that will ultimately make you question the fairness of life. Yet beneath it all lies the inspiration of the strength of the human spirit. It will guide you as a reader to seek a greater meaning of this life that is filled with enigmas. In the end, you will be a changed person. That is how powerful the book is!
Davis Aujourd'hui, author of "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude"
Showing reviews 1-5 of 707
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